In 1966, Desi Arnaz was still trying to reclaim a foothold in the TV sitcom biz, mostly with pilots written by Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll, Jr., who had served him well on I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show among other programs. This pilot is for The Carol Channing Show, which also starred Richard Deacon (fresh off The Dick Van Dyke Show) and Jane Dulo. Also present in the cast was Jimmy Garrett, who had been on The Lucy Show and there's a moment in there where Richard Deacon impersonates Channing and sounds like he's dubbed by June Foray.
Arnaz produced and directed and one presumes it was Ms. Channing who persuaded Jerry Herman to write the theme song. I have no idea when this pilot was filmed but she left Hello, Dolly! on Broadway in August of 1965. I also have no idea if or when it aired but this film runs 37 minutes without commercials so if it was broadcast, it was probably chopped down a lot. It was not unprecedented for producers to deliver an overlong pilot as a selling tool.
This one didn't go but the next year, Desi, Madelyn and Bob got luckier with The Mothers-In-Law, which ran two seasons, the second of which featured Richard Deacon. Mr. Deacon was not out of work a lot…
I "discovered" one of my heroes, Stan Freberg, in the early sixties when he was still making comedy records and also making a name for himself with innovative and funny commercials. His spots for Chun King Chow Mein were especially infamous…and one of the few times that the public was ever aware who was responsible for an advertising campaign.
In 1962, the company that marketed Chun King — which was so Chinese that they also made Jeno's Pizza Rolls — bought Stan a whole hour of network TV to do whatever he wanted to do. In fact, it was the hour on ABC which then usually housed Maverick, one of the highest-rated shows in all of television.
They hoped it would establish him as a television performer…and it did not. Critics called it one of the cleverest things they'd ever seen on The Box but everyone in the country who wasn't a critic or me was watching Ed Sullivan over on CBS that night.
But as you'll see if you click below, it was a unique 60 minutes of television time. Stan lassoed the famous designer Saul Bass to provide the "look" of the show and Billy May to provide music.
Then he brought along his stock company which included lots of people you may recognize, many of whom did cartoon voices. Most of you will recognize Sterling Holloway, June Foray, Shepard Menkin, Patty Regan, Peter Leeds, Mike Mazurki, Jesse White, Billy Bletcher, Frances Osborne, Arte Johnson, Ginny Tiu, Howard McNear, Byron Kane, Naomi Lewis, Max Mellinger, a few others and (briefly) some kid named Frank Sinatra.
Here's the whole show as aired February 4, 1962. You may not find it as brilliant as I did then or I do now but I doubt you'll think it's like anything else you've ever seen…
New to our countdown this year is Stan Freberg's "Green Christmas." I was pleased to know and work with Stan…one of those awesome occurrences in one's life when you find yourself alongside a boyhood hero. And this record also included another boyhood hero of fine who became a friend and co-worker, Daws Butler. In the above photo, Stan's the guy with his feet up and Daws is at top right. (The others are Peggy Taylor, June Foray and Peter Leeds. This was from Stan's 1957 radio show.)
In this record, which caused much controversy when it came out in 1958, Stan plays Scrooge and Daws is Bob Cratchit. And here's a photo of Du-Par's Restaurant which was (though no longer is) located on Vine Street in Hollywood, just North of the world-famous intersection of Hollywood & Vine. Du-Par's was once a proud chain of coffee shops all over Southern California but now there's just one left in Los Angeles. It's in the famous Farmers Market near where CBS is now but won't be for much longer….
Now, you may be wondering why the heck is Evanier putting up a photo of an old restaurant in a post about a Stan Freberg record? Well, there's a reason and I'll tell it to you after we all listen to that Stan Freberg record…
That's a great record, isn't it? Well, not everyone thought so. For the rest of the story, I'm just going to quote from Wikipedia…
At first, Capitol Records refused to release the record. Lloyd Dunn, the president of Capitol, told Freberg the record was offensive to everybody in advertising, and predicted that Freberg would never work in advertising again. Freberg responded with his intent to end his entire recording contract with Capitol. He spoke to a contact at Verve Records, and the company offered to release the record without even hearing it. Faced with this, Capitol finally decided to release it but provided no publicity at all.
The record was attacked in advertising trade magazines. It was played only twice in New York by one disc jockey, and the station's sales department threatened to have him fired if he played it again. George Carlin once told Freberg that he was almost fired from a DJ job in Shreveport, Louisiana for playing the record repeatedly. He told his boss it was "the most moral record ever made."
KMPC in Los Angeles played the record, but some advertisers required that their ads be scheduled more than fifteen minutes away from it. An editorial in the Los Angeles Times condemned it, but the author later admitted he had not listened to it. Similarly, Robert Wood, the station manager of KNXT-TV in Los Angeles (later president of CBS), cancelled a TV interview with Freberg because the record was "sacrilegious" and he did not need to hear it because he had read about it. KRLA, Pasadena (Freberg's hometown) showed it as reaching #3 in popularity in their printed survey. It is unclear whether this was based on sales or airplay.
Station KFWB, then known as "Color Radio Channel 98", where the record reached No. 3 on 3 January 1959, also kept on playing it. KFI, then the Earl C. Anthony station, played it a few times and then discontinued it, as did many other stations because of a negative reaction from the advertising community.
But of course, the rest of the story is that Freberg later got loads of work in advertising, including a campaign for Coca-Cola, which was a sponsor mentioned in the record. As Stan said, advertising people never hold a grudge when there's money to be made…and he thought that the Christmas after "Green Christmas" came out, some advertisers seemed a bit more cautious about mounting the kinds of campaigns that the record was all about.
And thank you for patiently waiting for the explanation about the photo of Du-Par's Restaurant. Here it is. If you scroll back up to the picture, you'll see the Capitol Records Building in the background. It's still there and it's where Stan recorded just about all his records including "Green Christmas." During that recording session, Stan got the idea for the cash register sound effects at the end. Capitol Records made tons of money but they didn't have a cash register on the premises. They didn't even have the recorded sound effect of a cash register.
So Stan walked down the block to Du-Par's where he talked the manager into loaning him their cash register for a few minutes. The manager, according to Stan, was a Freberg fan and he agreed. They took all the cash out of the register, leaving $3.00 in coins that were needed to make the proper sounds. Stan said that he personally carried the cash register to the recording studio and after they got the sounds they wanted, he carried it back to Du-Par's and waited while the manager counted the change to make sure it had been all returned. Great story, huh?
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DATE 9/3/1999 Comics Buyer's Guide
Back in the seventies, one could travel this great land of ours and find numerous outlets of the Love's Barbecue Restaurant chain.
Franchised barbecue (or BBQ, as we purists spell it) shouldn't be any good. Your finest spareribs are cooked by some old, grizzled Gabby Hayes look-alike who's rustled up hundreds of pounds per week since he was twelve and his pappy taught him the hallowed family secret of stoking the fire, marinating the meat and mixing the sauce. But for a chain, Love's ribs weren't bad, and their beans compared favorably with any beans anywhere.
This is the old Love's chain of which I write. The company has changed owners a few times in the last two decades, each new proprietor downsizing considerably. The quality of what they serve has also been in decline to the point where I've given up on them. What has been done to the beans alone is the greatest desecration since Laszlo Toth tried playing croquet with the Pieta.
At the moment, there are but thirteen Love's — twelve in Southern California and one in Jakarta, Indonesia. That's right: There's one in Jakarta, Indonesia and, yes, I know it sounds like an old Johnny Carson joke —
"My business manager has arranged some great investments for me. I have all my money in a Big Man's shop in Tokyo, a tuxedo store in Tijuana, and a Love's Barbecue Restaurant in Jakarta, Indonesia."
Those harboring doubts should visit www.lovesbbq.com and see for themselves. That's where I found out about it. I hardly ever get to Indonesia these days…
Around 1970 when Love's restaurants were widespread and good, I became not just a frequent patron but a spy, as well. It started when I had a slightly-less-than-wonderful meal at a Love's then on Hollywood Boulevard and I dashed off a letter to their corporate offices. Within the week, the Vice-President-in-charge-of-slaw — or something like that — sent back a grateful response, along with a certificate good for two meals at the Love's of my choice. "Your letter was very helpful," he wrote. "If you find any deficiencies at any of our other establishments, please do not hesitate to let me know."
I received this invitation with the same intense responsibility of 007 being told by M that it was up to him to stop the nuclear blackmail of the United Nations and the probable annihilation of one or more continents. From that day forward, wherever I went, I would attempt to locate a Love's and dine therein. Friends with whom I drove any distance learned to just accept that we'd inevitably be having lunch and/or dinner at one.
Upon returning home, I would diligently type up a report for Mr. Love — that was not his name but it should have been — and critique the service, the ambience, the cuisine, the cleanliness, the parking and, of course, the beans. Mr. Love would instantly respond with pledges to correct all reported flaws, plus coupons for more Love's dinners. The coupons explained why my friends didn't mind being dragged to one Love's after another. My friends would eat at Jeffrey Dahmer's house if it were free.
Our only Love's-less outings came with our annual sojourns to the San Diego Comic Convention. For many of its early years, it was held at the El Cortez — a hotel where every room looked like it had just been vacated by Old Dirty Bastard. I have attended cons for thirty years in Sheratons, Hiltons, Hyatts, Marriotts, Radissons, Ramadas, Embassy Suites and even a Days Inn or two. It always seemed beneath a hotel's dignity to have people traipsing about in Vampirella costumes (the men, especially) or hawking copies of Wolverine Shreds His Sister. The El Cortez was the one place that comic fans could convene and feel like they were classing-up the place.
That was the big advantage of the El Cortez. Its only real downside was that there was no place to eat. ("Not so," some of you who recall those cons may cry. "There was a Denny's restaurant just two blocks away."
— to which I would reply, "Yes, but there was no place to eat.")
At mealtime, your options were to trudge down to the Denny's or go hungry. This is like having to choose between sucking on the exhaust pipe of a John Deere tractor or not breathing at all.
My friend Rob Solomon and I would eagerly look forward each year to the San Diego Con. We'd joyously anticipate the panels and the films and the masquerade and the art show and the parties. There were only three things we dreaded: breakfast, lunch and dinner. I sometimes contemplated brown-bagging it for the duration of the con.
Then, in 1973, the grand event was held at the Harbor Island Sheraton Inn. As we motored towards it, I happily reminded Rob, "You know what this means? No Denny's!"
"I'll believe it when I see a menu without pictures of the food on it," he cautiously announced. "I have an awful premonition that there will only be one restaurant on all of Harbor Island…and it'll be a Denny's." When we arrived at the hotel, we immediately did a fast sustenance reconnaissance. There was an eatery situated right next door and it was not, thank the lord, what Rob had feared.
It was — and my eyes are starting to tear up as I recall the moment of joyous discovery with the symphonic arrangement of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" swelling in the background — a Love's Barbecue Restaurant.
Click above to see this larger.
We quickly ate lunch there. We'd actually stopped for lunch a half-hour earlier but we had to make sure it wasn't a mirage. The food was fine — well up to Love's standards — and I scribbled a few notes for my obligatory report to Mr. Love.
I also observed but made no notes about the young lady who showed us to a table. She was stunningly beautiful…and she had the largest breasts I have ever seen on a human being who was not offering lap-dances.
Chest size is not something I ordinarily single-out as an identifying characteristic of any woman. I have acquaintances who wouldn't realize that a lady was wearing a gas mask as long as her bust measurement began with a four. This flaw, however, is absent from the short list of Faults I Do Not Have. (The other two are "Selling classified data to foreign powers" and "Undereating.")
Still, with this greeter-and-seater, they were there. Boy, were they there. To not notice them would be like not spotting Mothra in your linen closet.
I was hardly the only person who made this discovery. Few males attending the con did not espy the hostess or hear about her and rush to see for themselves. As this was back when the total feminine turnout at a San Diego Con consisted of June Foray and Mrs. Jack Kirby, we had almost the full attendance scurrying over to Love's all the time. Even avowed vegetarians were making the journey, just for the thrill of being seated. Some guys got themselves seated five or six times a day.
The proximity of a Love's and the that hostess were two reasons the con was a success. Among the more conventional were a number of fine guests — Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, Carmine Infantino, Gus Arriola, Milton Caniff, June Foray, A.E. Van Vogt and a few others. The con was abuzz with news that Star Trek, which had been off network TV for four years, would be resurrected the following month as an animated Saturday morn series. Fans — most of whom would coldcock you if you called them "Trekkies" — crammed into a film room about the size of a Whitman's Sampler to see a sneak preview.
It was only the opening titles, showing twinkling stars and a fast fly-by of the Enterprise — but Trek fans were enraptured. If I suddenly received fifty million bucks, the secret of Eternal Life, and a booty call from Rebecca Romijn, I don't think I would be quite that happy.
An enormously entertaining speech was delivered by Larry Vincent, an actor who was then hosting horror movies on L.A. TV under the name "Seymour." He did a very fine show, first on KHJ and then on KTLA, amusing Angelenos while exasperating film buffs, and I keep meaning to write a column about him. Bug me if you don't see it here before the year is out.
I appeared on a Writers' Panel. For the first dozen-or-so San Diego Cons, I answered the same questions on the same panel every year. In '73, Mike Friedrich and I talked about how there would soon be a new-found respect for the craft of scripting funnybooks and a greater diversity of material. I keep expecting this to happen, any day now…
Among all of this, the moment I recall most vividly occurred one afternoon in the dealer's room. A young man, maybe fifteen years of age, strolled up to a table of rare comics, scooped up about $500 worth and made a fervent dash for the exit. The fellow tending the display yelled, "Stop that kid! He's a rip-off artist!"
(A gracious touch, I thought. Wouldn't want to hurt the kid's feelings by calling him a thief or a robber, would we? "Rip-off Artist" allowed him to retain some dignity…made it sound like he had some useful, creative skill.)
The thief — er, the rip-off artist tore through the hall like Fran Tarkenton charging for the goalposts. Several con-goers, myself among them, tried to grab him but he bobbed and weaved and eluded our grasps. Nevertheless, when he reached the door, three guys were waiting and he was quickly taken into custody.
Ken Krueger, the con's treasurer (and a charter committee member and an important figure in comics 'n' science-fiction fandom) immediately took charge. Someone asked, "What should we do with him?" and Ken instantly replied, "Call the police."
That may seem like the most obvious answer in the world but at that moment, it hadn't occurred to anyone but Ken. It hadn't occurred to the rip-off artist/thief, either. He was incredulous that the San Diego Police Department might even be interested in a theft of comic books. He stammered, "Police?" as if he'd thought the worst that could happen to him was being drummed out of the Merry Marvel Marching Society.
The sudden intrusion of the Real World into our little Pretend Fandom World, I found fascinating. Had the kid attempted to pilfer $500 in cash or $500 worth of records or clothes or elbow macaroni, there would have been no question. That would have been stealing.
But filching a stack of Action Comics — even a stack of Action Comics for which someone would pay $500 in legal tender — somehow struck both the crook and a few of his captors as kind of a toy crime. It was as if your schoolyard playmate took your Fig Newtons. You wouldn't call the police over that. You'd look like a bad sport for even telling the teacher.
Ken was, however, one of the few adults on the premises — chronologically, if not emotionally. When an onlooker suggested that this could be handled, sans gendarmes, Ken said, "No. This is a crime and it has to be treated as a crime." The police came, they took the lad away and I never heard for sure what happened after that. The rumor was he got some sort of suspended sentence, but it really didn't matter, except probably to him.
What mattered back in the dealer's room that day was (a) stolen comics had been recovered and (b) the thief had been caught and handed over to the authorities. A dealer-friend of mine reacted like he'd just seen one of the great social injustices of the century suddenly righted.
"I can't believe it," he said around 37 times. "Every con where I sell stuff, someone rips off something. The security always stinks and even on those rare occasions when they catch the guy, no one ever does anything.
"I did one con where these two kids were working in teams, sneaking stuff out, hiding it outside, then coming back in to get more. Merchandise was disappearing all day but no one knew who was doing it. Finally, they got so brazen that they got caught…but the con didn't want to get mixed up in filing charges, risking lawsuits or something. They just told the kids, 'You're barred forever from our cons' and let them go. The thieves didn't even return most of the stuff they'd stolen.
"The con organizers act like you're just supposed to accept a certain amount of loss, like it's normal. At one con, I complained to the guy in charge and you know what his answer was? 'Raise your prices.' That was his solution — I should charge more for what I sell to make back the money I lose when I get ripped-off. Maybe if more conventions call the cops, it'll make a difference."
I don't know that it did or didn't…but I do know that, if you do it today at almost any convention, police will be called and you will be prosecuted. That was just the first time anyone heard of it happening.
I also know that a lot of sellers appreciated what Ken Krueger did that day. A couple of them were almost as happy as the Trek fanciers.
As soon as I got home, I immediately whipped out a lengthy letter to Mr. Love reviewing the Love's on Harbor Island. Since I'd had five or six meals there, I was able to appraise much of the menu.
I told him that the pork ribs were excellent but the beef ribs were dry and a bit on the stringy side. I informed him that the chicken had uncommonly crisp skin, which I liked, and that the fries were a tad greasy, which I also liked. I rated the various soups d'jour, ranging from tomato (C-) to clam chowder (B+) to chicken noodle (A-). Overall, I ranked this Love's highly but suggested that the establishment could use a better sign out front so that famished rib-lovers might locate it more easily.
A week later, he wrote back:
"Thank you for your latest letter. Your comments were most helpful, as I have not yet had the opportunity to visit and inspect that particular Love's. I have been meaning to, as I am informed that the hostess has an amazing pair of jugs."
Since this piece first appeared, the entire Love's BBQ chain and many of the people and institutions mentioned herein have gone bye-bye…but you can buy Love's sauce at the aforementioned website. It seems a little thinner to me but just as tasty. I do still miss the beans though. (I was going to add "…and that hostess" but I'm too classy for that. I hope.)
Recently at his site, Michael Barrier has been discussing Walter Lantz, the prolific animation producer who gave us Woody Woodpecker, Andy Panda, Chilly Willy and others. A reader of this site, Alan Willson, wrote to ask me, "Did you ever cross paths with Lantz? Any personal anecdotes?" Not many, I'm afraid. I met Mr. Lantz but once and I'll tell you about it in a second. But first let me tell you the way in which he was important to me.
As a kid, I was a fan of his cartoons. Of course, as a kid, I was a fan of most cartoons. As one gets older, one's interests and tastes evolve. At the same time I was avidly watching The Woody Woodpecker Show on Channel 11, I was also watching (and loving even more) the early Hanna-Barbera cartoons on Channel 11 and the early Jay Ward cartoons on Channel 7 and later 4. I still like and enjoy Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and other H-B programs of that era. I still love and admire Rocky and His Friends and other Wardian concoctions. Whatever positive feelings I have for Woody and Company are not unlike my emotions re: Bosco chocolate syrup and Circus Animal cookies. I can't and don't eat them today but I do remember how much joy they gave me at age 10. Somewhere downstairs here, I have a VHS tape of Woody Woodpecker cartoons that I picked up for a couple of bucks once in a KMart. It literally contains every Walter Lantz cartoon that I can recall ever really liking as an adult.
Some of the cartoons he produced have expertly-done musical numbers and I suppose most were as well-animated as the budgets of the time allowed…but I feel scant connection to the characters or the jokes or the storylines. And to the extent that I even like the characters, that's mainly because of their appearances in the Dell comic books that were created and printed by Western Publishing Company. I liked a lot of those comics…which Mr. Lantz and his immediate staff didn't write or draw. In fact — and this is a visceral feeling, not a logical one — as a kid, I felt the cartoons were wrong and the comics were right. The Road Runner in the Dell comic books didn't match the Road Runner of the cartoons and there, it was clear to me that the comic book version was the aberration. With Woody Woodpecker, Andy Panda and other Lantz properties, it felt like the cartoons were wrong…and also wildly inconsistent, whereas the comics had one generally clear vision.
But what I really did like about Walter Lantz was that he taught me the basics of cartooning. He taught them in little film segments on the Woody Woodpecker TV show like this one…
I would sit there with my pad and pencil and follow along. Even though I never carried it to the point of real professional cartooning, doing that had a lot to do with the fact that I now work at all in the creative arts. I can interface with the best cartoonists in the business and understand what they do when we collaborate…but I also think that whatever flair I have for writing is connected to having filled many a pad with cartoons at an early age.
Where I really learned something ostensibly from Walter Lantz was when I acquired a book called Easy Way to Draw. I wrote about it back here and I still consider that volume to be as important to my life as any book I ever owned. An idea I've toyed with for some time is to grab friends like Sergio Aragonés and Scott Shaw! and to try and do a new book that will work the same magic on kids in that age bracket. I would start by resolving that the book was for ages 6-12 and that I really didn't care if one person older than that would buy or could even understand it.
So when I finally met Walter Lantz, it was a very special moment for me — one of those encounters when you feel the need to say to someone, "You have no idea what you did for me…but thank you for what you did for me." And that's pretty much what I said to him.
It was at the opening of an animation art gallery in West Hollywood around 1984 or '85. (Mr. Lantz passed in '94 at the age of 95.) I saw him there and got June Foray to introduce us, and the first two things I noticed were that he was very short — not a whole lot taller than I was when I was watching his drawing lessons — and that he talked exactly the same way in person that he'd talked in them. He really did sound like he was reading off-camera cue cards and that was somehow comforting.
He'd been standing for some time shaking hands at the gallery and was looking for a place to sit down for a spell. Recalling a bench a bit away from the mingling area, I suggested that and led him to it. So I got to sit with Walter Lantz for maybe a half-hour of Q-and-A. Unfortunately, it was mostly Q's from him and A's from me. June had introduced me glowingly as a great friend and important person in the cartoon business (half-right — the first half) and once I told Mr. Lantz that I'd gotten into cartoons because of him, he really just wanted to hear more about that. It was clearly a big deal to him that he'd been responsible for the "next generation" — or maybe I was a generation or two past his — but it felt odd to sit there and be peppered with questions about where I went to college and how he'd inspired me.
Most of what I did get him to talk about was the relationship between his operation and Western Publishing. He dearly loved Chase Craig, who'd been my editor when I wrote Woody Woodpecker comics and others, and he'd been delighted with Western's comics and activity books of his characters. He admitted to me that at some point, they were the creative force behind much of what he was doing in his own studio. The evolution of Woody's official design, for instance, was influenced as much by what the Western artists were doing as by anything done by folks on the Lantz payroll…and many talents went back and forth between the two employers. (In this article, I explain how a character created by folks at Western for the comic books became a semi-valuable Lantz property, much as Disney got Uncle Scrooge out of their relationship with Western.)
Mike Barrier says that when he interviewed Lantz in a more formal context, he also got little out of him. People in animation often develop what I call "talk show versions" of their history…little abbreviated anecdotes that are simplified down to be quick and comprehensible to folks outside the business and which come with built-in punchlines. They tell them so often to reporters that they often can't shift back to the real stories. This was often a problem if you spoke with Mel Blanc, as well. Asked about Porky Pig's stuttering, he'd launch into the same tale he told in Johnny Carson's guest chair and so many other places about going out and studying pigs until he decided a grunt was a stammer. Unless you reminded him that he was the second voice of Porky, replacing a guy who really did stutter, that was all you got out of Mel. At one point in our half hour and with zero inquiry from me, Mr. Lantz launched into the oft-heard-but-apocryphal saga of creating Woody Woodpecker when a real woodpecker kept interrupting his honeymoon.
But you know what? I loved it. It was like hearing Tony Bennett sing about leaving his heart in San Francisco…which probably also didn't happen.
So I didn't extract a lot of historical data or wisdom about animation from Walter Lantz but so what? I got to tell him that he was a good teacher and that he'd inspired one more kid to move towards his life's work. I'm sure there were a lot of us and that he only got to hear it from a very small percentage.
Thursday, July 20 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 32AB
SPOTLIGHT ON BARBARA FRIEDLANDER
Fresh out of high school in the sixties, Barbara Friedlander got a job at DC Comics and quickly ascended to a job in the editorial division working with or alongside, among many others, Carmine Infantino, Jack Miller, Robert Kanigher, Mort Weisinger, Julius Schwartz, and Joe Orlando. What was it like to work in that office on DC's romance comics and on her creation, Swing With Scooter? Comic-Con Special Guest Mark Evanier will be quizzing her — and on Friday evening at the Eisner Awards, he'll be presenting Barbara with the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.
Thursday, July 20 — 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 10
COMICS FOR UKRAINE Comics for Ukraine is a new and important book that is raising funds to aid people whose lives have been devastated by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Some of the top names in comics have donated their time and artistry to this book, which is debuting at Comic-Con. Come join several of those folks as they talk about their stories and why this project is so important. Mark Evanier, John Layman, Stan Sakai and Billy Tucci will be on hand, as well as Richard Walden, the founder of Operation USA, the charity that is funneling funds to help the struggling people of Ukraine. Moderated by book organizer Scott Dunbier.
Thursday, July 20 — 2:00 PM to 2:45 PM at the Dark Horse Booth
I will be signing stuff, especially copies of Groo in the Wild #1 along with colorist Carrie Strachan at Booth 2416.
Friday, July 21 — 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY AND POGO
The brilliant newspaper strip Pogo was created, written and drawn by one of the great geniuses of comic art, Walt Kelly. It's currently being reprinted in full in a series of books from Fantagraphics, one of which is up for an Eisner Award tonight. Meanwhile, fans of Mr. Kelly and his zany swamp denizens can gather to discuss him, his work, and what it was that made his cartooning so very special. Come hear from artist Steve Leialoha, scholar Maggie Thompson, Kelly archivist Jane Plunkett, and the co-editors of the current reprint series, Eric Reynolds and your moderator, Mark Evanier.
Friday, July 21 — 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 10
THE GROO PANEL
For 40+ years, the irrepressible (and ignorant) barbarian Groo the Wanderer has wandered the land and through comic book shops making good things bad, bad things worse, and all things hilarious. What's it like to work on this comic with master cartoonist Sergio Aragonés? Since Sergio isn't attending the con this year, these three people can speak freely about the experience: letterer (and creator of Usagi Yojimbo) Stan Sakai, colorist Carrie Strachan and a guy named Mark Evanier who does something on the comic but we don't know what. Also, they'll try to phone Sergio, which will be great fun if it works and probably funnier if it doesn't.
Saturday, July 22 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 6DE DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: AN ANIMATED ANNIVERSARY Mark Evanier (show developer), Katie Leigh (voice of Sheila), David M. Booher (writer, IDW's Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures), Frank Todaro (voice actor, Netflix's The Cuphead Show), and Luke Gygax (son of D&D creator Gary Gygax) discuss the legendary tabletop game's 40th anniversary as a Saturday morning cartoon from the perspective of the talent who worked on the show and today's creatives who grew up on it. The session will be moderated by TJ Shevlin (2023 Eisner Awards judge).
Saturday, July 22 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
No matter when you're reading this — hopefully before the event — run and get a seat for Quick Draw!, the fastest and funniest presentation at Comic-Con. Your Quick Draw quizmaster Mark Evanier will be putting three of the swiftest cartoonists in the business to the test, inventing well-projected humor on the spot. Competing this year are cartoonist and Comic-Con co-founder Scott Shaw!, MAD magazine's Tom Richmond, and Disney legend Floyd Norman. As usual, there will be no wagering on the outcome.
Saturday, July 22 — 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I
Once again, Mark Evanier has assembled a roster of some of the most-heard performers in the world of animation, and they're here to tell you what they do, how they do it and then demonstrate it. The dais includes Adam McArthur (Star vs. the Forces of Evil), Elle Newlands (Lego Marvel's Avengers), Keith Scott (Bullwinkle Moose), Bill Farmer (Goofy, Pluto), Dave Fennoy (Batman, Transformers) and Jessica DiCicco (The Emperor's New School, Muppet Babies). And as usual, the actors will mangle a classic fairy tale for your enjoyment.
Saturday, July 22 — 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM in Room 4
MAGGIE THOMPSON SPOTLIGHT: Wrangling History (How to Preserve the Past So We Can Read in the Future)
As we lose creators, memories fade, and collectibles are lost or damaged, what can be done to hang onto the creations and establish the facts? Maggie is joined by writer and producer Mark Evanier, Columbia University comics and cartoons curator Karen Green, and Abrams ComicArts editor-in-chief Charles Kochman.
Saturday, July 22 — 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE HISTORY OF CARTOON VOICES Keith Scott is one of the top voice actors and impressionists in Australia, and he's also an expert on cartoon voices for theatrical cartoons in this country. He's making a rare visit to America this year and he'll be talking about Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, June Foray, Walt Disney, and many you've never heard of. Don't miss this rare chance to hear all about how cartoons learned to talk, with not only Keith but also historians Jerry Beck, Leonard Maltin and your moderator, Mark Evanier.
Sunday, July 22 — 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
It's a Comic-Con tradition to assemble on Sunday morning to remember the man some still call, and with good reason, The King of the Comics. His life and career will be discussed by folks who knew him or wish they did. They include writer Tom King, Jack's grandson Jeremy Kirby, Kirby experts Bruce Simon, Mark Badger and Jon Cooke, attorney Paul S. Levine and your moderator, former Kirby assistant Mark Evanier.
Sunday, July 23 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II
Cartoon Voices I on Saturday will be so wonderful that we'll need another such panel on Sunday with other top actors in the animation-voicing profession. This time, moderator Mark Evanier will welcome Maurice LaMarche (Futurama, Pinky and the Brain), Anna Brisbin (Final Fantasy VII Remake), Fred Tatasciore (Team America, The Hulk), Frank Todaro (The Cuphead Show, Transformers), and Courtney Lin (Monster High, Rainbow High).
Sunday, July 23 — 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM in Room 7AB
FRANK MILLER: AMERICAN GENIUS
Comic-Con Special Guest and legend Frank Miller, one of the comics medium's most important creators, returns to San Diego for an all-access and in-depth discussion. Be here for this exclusive panel that will give you insight into one of the genre's most influential people. With his publishing line, Frank Miller Presents, and details on the upcoming Frank Miller: American Genius documentary, there will be much to cover!
Sunday, July 23 — 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Room 7AB
COVER STORY
There have been comic book publishers who believed that what they put inside the comic didn't matter much — that readers decide to buy or not to buy because of the cover. It's arguable, but a great cover never hurt a book. On this panel, your host Mark Evanier welcomes four artists who have drawn great covers: Todd McFarlane (Spawn, Spider-Man), Becky Cloonan (Batman, Gotham Academy; this year's Comic-Con Souvenir Book cover), Joe Quesada (Daredevil, Spider-Man), and J. Scott Campbell (Danger Girl, Amazing Spider-Man).
Sunday, July 23 — 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES
Are you interested in a career in the highly competitive world of voiceover? There are plenty of folks who will take your money to advise you, but you can get a ton of information for free with no strings attached at this panel. Two very busy voice actors (Vanessa Marshall and Gregg Berger), a top agent (Cathey Lizzio of C.E.S.D.), and a voice director (your moderator, Mark Evanier) will tell you how one goes about learning the craft, breaking into the business, staying in the business, and maybe even making a living in the business. This panel is not for entertainment. It's for enlightenment.
Each and every item above is subject to change for reasons that even I may not be able to explain. The entire programming schedule can be found and studied on this page.
The 2023 Comic-Con International in San Diego commences with Preview Night from 6 PM to 9 PM on Wednesday evening, July 19. This is basically your chance to walk around the main Exhibit Hall with slightly fewer folks clogging the aisles. The real action starts the next day and here's what I'll be up to…
Thursday, July 20 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 32AB
SPOTLIGHT ON BARBARA FRIEDLANDER
Fresh out of high school in the sixties, Barbara Friedlander got a job at DC Comics and quickly ascended to a job in the editorial division working with or alongside, among many others, Carmine Infantino, Jack Miller, Robert Kanigher, Mort Weisinger, Julius Schwartz, and Joe Orlando. What was it like to work in that office on DC's romance comics and on her creation, Swing With Scooter? Comic-Con Special Guest Mark Evanier will be quizzing her — and on Friday evening at the Eisner Awards, he'll be presenting Barbara with the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.
Thursday, July 20 — 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 10
COMICS FOR UKRAINE Comics for Ukraine is a new and important book that is raising funds to aid people whose lives have been devastated by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Some of the top names in comics have donated their time and artistry to this book, which is debuting at Comic-Con. Come join several of those folks as they talk about their stories and why this project is so important. Mark Evanier, John Layman, Stan Sakai and Billy Tucci will be on hand, as well as Richard Walden, the founder of Operation USA, the charity that is funneling funds to help the struggling people of Ukraine. Moderated by book organizer Scott Dunbier.
Thursday, July 20 — 2:00 PM to 2:45 PM at the Dark Horse Booth
I will be signing stuff, especially copies of Groo in the Wild #1 along with colorist Carrie Strachan at Booth 2416.
Friday, July 21 — 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY AND POGO
The brilliant newspaper strip Pogo was created, written and drawn by one of the great geniuses of comic art, Walt Kelly. It's currently being reprinted in full in a series of books from Fantagraphics, one of which is up for an Eisner Award tonight. Meanwhile, fans of Mr. Kelly and his zany swamp denizens can gather to discuss him, his work, and what it was that made his cartooning so very special. Come hear from artist Steve Leialoha, scholar Maggie Thompson, Kelly archivist Jane Plunkett, and the co-editors of the current reprint series, Eric Reynolds and your moderator, Mark Evanier.
Friday, July 21 — 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 10
THE GROO PANEL
For 40+ years, the irrepressible (and ignorant) barbarian Groo the Wanderer has wandered the land and through comic book shops making good things bad, bad things worse, and all things hilarious. What's it like to work on this comic with master cartoonist Sergio Aragonés? Since Sergio isn't attending the con this year, these three people can speak freely about the experience: letterer (and creator of Usagi Yojimbo) Stan Sakai, colorist Carrie Strachan and a guy named Mark Evanier who does something on the comic but we don't know what. Also, they'll try to phone Sergio, which will be great fun if it works and probably funnier if it doesn't.
Saturday, July 22 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 6DE DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: AN ANIMATED ANNIVERSARY Mark Evanier (show developer), Katie Leigh (voice of Sheila), David M. Booher (writer, IDW's Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures), Frank Todaro (voice actor, Netflix's The Cuphead Show), and Luke Gygax (son of D&D creator Gary Gygax) discuss the legendary tabletop game's 40th anniversary as a Saturday morning cartoon from the perspective of the talent who worked on the show and today's creatives who grew up on it. The session will be moderated by TJ Shevlin (2023 Eisner Awards judge).
Saturday, July 22 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
No matter when you're reading this — hopefully before the event — run and get a seat for Quick Draw!, the fastest and funniest presentation at Comic-Con. Your Quick Draw quizmaster Mark Evanier will be putting three of the swiftest cartoonists in the business to the test, inventing well-projected humor on the spot. Competing this year are cartoonist and Comic-Con co-founder Scott Shaw!, MAD magazine's Tom Richmond, and Disney legend Floyd Norman. As usual, there will be no wagering on the outcome.
Saturday, July 22 — 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I
Once again, Mark Evanier has assembled a roster of some of the most-heard performers in the world of animation, and they're here to tell you what they do, how they do it and then demonstrate it. The dais includes Adam McArthur (Star vs. the Forces of Evil), Elle Newlands (Lego Marvel's Avengers), Keith Scott (Bullwinkle Moose), Bill Farmer (Goofy, Pluto), Dave Fennoy (Batman, Transformers) and Jessica DiCicco (The Emperor's New School, Muppet Babies). And as usual, the actors will mangle a classic fairy tale for your enjoyment.
Saturday, July 22 — 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM in Room 4
MAGGIE THOMPSON SPOTLIGHT: Wrangling History (How to Preserve the Past So We Can Read in the Future)
As we lose creators, memories fade, and collectibles are lost or damaged, what can be done to hang onto the creations and establish the facts? Maggie is joined by writer and producer Mark Evanier, Columbia University comics and cartoons curator Karen Green, and Abrams ComicArts editor-in-chief Charles Kochman.
Saturday, July 22 — 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE HISTORY OF CARTOON VOICES Keith Scott is one of the top voice actors and impressionists in Australia, and he's also an expert on cartoon voices for theatrical cartoons in this country. He's making a rare visit to America this year and he'll be talking about Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, June Foray, Walt Disney, and many you've never heard of. Don't miss this rare chance to hear all about how cartoons learned to talk, with not only Keith but also historians Jerry Beck, Leonard Maltin and your moderator, Mark Evanier.
Sunday, July 23 — 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
It's a Comic-Con tradition to assemble on Sunday morning to remember the man some still call, and with good reason, The King of the Comics. His life and career will be discussed by folks who knew him or wish they did. They include writer Tom King, Jack's grandson Jeremy Kirby, Kirby experts Bruce Simon, Mark Badger and Jon Cooke, attorney Paul S. Levine and your moderator, former Kirby assistant Mark Evanier.
Sunday, July 23 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II
Cartoon Voices I on Saturday will be so wonderful that we'll need another such panel on Sunday with other top actors in the animation-voicing profession. This time, moderator Mark Evanier will welcome Maurice LaMarche (Futurama, Pinky and the Brain), Anna Brisbin (Final Fantasy VII Remake), Fred Tatasciore (Team America, The Hulk), Frank Todaro (The Cuphead Show, Transformers), and Courtney Lin (Monster High, Rainbow High).
Sunday, July 23 — 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Room 7AB
COVER STORY
There have been comic book publishers who believed that what they put inside the comic didn't matter much — that readers decide to buy or not to buy because of the cover. It's arguable, but a great cover never hurt a book. On this panel, your host Mark Evanier welcomes four artists who have drawn great covers: Todd McFarlane (Spawn, Spider-Man), Becky Cloonan (Batman, Gotham Academy; this year's Comic-Con Souvenir Book cover), Joe Quesada (Daredevil, Spider-Man), and J. Scott Campbell (Danger Girl, Amazing Spider-Man).
Sunday, July 23 — 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES
Are you interested in a career in the highly competitive world of voiceover? There are plenty of folks who will take your money to advise you, but you can get a ton of information for free with no strings attached at this panel. Two very busy voice actors (Vanessa Marshall and Gregg Berger), a top agent (Cathey Lizzio of C.E.S.D.), and a voice director (your moderator, Mark Evanier) will tell you how one goes about learning the craft, breaking into the business, staying in the business, and maybe even making a living in the business. This panel is not for entertainment. It's for enlightenment.
Each and every item above is subject to change for reasons that even I may not be able to explain. The entire programming schedule can be found and studied on this page.
Last year in this space, I wrote — and this is a quote, you can go check it — that "as usual, I will be exercising my constitutional right (until the current Supreme Court strips me of it) to not sit behind a table in the exhibit hall very much." Clearly, they're well on their way to doing that but they haven't yet…so this year I will only be writing my name on things at the Dark Horse booth from 2 PM until 2:45 on Thursday. Other than that, you may be able to catch me before or after panels. Please don't try it before or after Quick Draw!
What needs to be finished still needs to be finished but less of it needs to be finished than needed to be finished at this time yesterday. Rather than leave this blog looking sad and neglected, I'm posting another of my favorite episodes of my favorite TV program. It's The Dick Van Dyke Show for October 31, 1962. I remember laughing my fool head off at this when it was first broadcast and it startles me to realize I was about ten-and-a-half years old at the time.
It's a reminder of the awesome physical (along with verbal) comedy skills of the star of that series. I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone who has since starred in a situation comedy who could have pulled this off…maybe John Ritter? Watch it and see if you can come up with a name. I'll be back after the video embed to tell you an interesting (to me) thing about this episode…
The actor who played the hypnotist is Charles Aidman, who also played Rob Petrie's insurance man a year later in another episode. Mr. Aidman was one of those actors — as you may know, I love performers in this category — who worked constantly without ever becoming easily identifiable from one role on one series. Jamie Farr had that anonymous status before he became Max Klinger on M*A*S*H. If he hadn't landed that part, he probably would still have worked all the time but there'd be no way I could describe him in one sentence so most of you would know who I was talking about.
Aidman's career ran from about 1952 until his death in 1993 and his IMBD listing is very, very long and — I'm sure — very, very incomplete.
It presently lists his last job as a 1992 episode of Garfield and Friends but I know that's not right because when I booked him for it, we had to work around the shooting schedule of some movie he was working on. But I wanted him to be my narrator because he would give it a kind of Twilight Zone ambience. Aidman was so good at that kind of thing that he'd served as the narrator of the 1985 Twilight Zone revival on CBS. Pro that he was, he arrived at our studio right on time but with an attitude of "Are you sure it's me you wanted?" He did a lot of voiceover work but almost never for cartoons and certainly not for allegedly-funny ones.
I get asked, "How do you direct cartoon voices?" Here's a perfect example: You hire the right actor, show them which microphone to use and then get the hell out of their way. I don't think I gave him any more direction at the top than "Just forget it's a cartoon. Read the copy like it's a serious suspense film." And then the next bit of direction I gave him was, "That was great, Charles. Come out of the booth and sign some paperwork so we can pay you."
And yes, we did talk a little bit about some of the other things he'd done, including The Dick Van Dyke Show. Very nice man. Very good at what he did. If you'd like to see a little of the cartoon he narrated, it's online here. The other voices are by Lorenzo Music (of course), Gregg Berger, Thom Huge and June Foray. That's right: June Foray. Directing her or any of those folks was no more labor-intensive than directing Charles Aidman. All you need to do is hire the right people.
This year, 2009, was the first of a few times I persuaded one of my heroes, Stan Freberg, to journey to San Diego and appear at the convention. It was also the year of one of the best "historical" panels we ever did: Three guys who'd ghosted for Bob Kane on Batman, all getting together to talk about what it was like to work for Bob.
On the Sunday Cartoon Voices panel, three of my five announced panelists were unable to make it for one reason or another so the dais wound up consisting of Earl Kress, Jess Harnell, Gregg Berger, Tom Kane and Greg Cipes.
And you'll see a panel down there called "How to be a Cartoon Voice Actor" which we now do annually, though it's now called "The Business of Cartoon Voices." A lot of folks who come to the Cartoon Voices panels want to get into that profession but imparting information to them tended to slow up the C.V. panels and we could not address the topic adequately. So my friend Earl Kress and I started the educational panel and it's on the schedule every year. I bring in some working actors and an agent or two and we tell the aspiring Mel Blancs who show up for the panel how to go about it…and more importantly, how not to go about it. I'm so pleased that several people have now gone from attending these panels to being on the Cartoon Voices panel…and I wish Earl was still around to see that.
We didn't know it at the time but this year would have our last Golden/Silver Age Panel. It started out to be the Golden Age Panel but after a while, it was getting harder to find panelists who'd worked in comics in the 1940s so we quietly changed it into the Golden/Silver Age Panel…but even that was a problem to fill the following year so it went away — sadly…
Sergio Aragonés, Stan Sakai, Tom Luth, Leonard Starr, Ramona Fradon, Jerry Robinson, Gene Colan, Murphy Anderson, Jack Katz, Russ Heath, Marv Wolfman, Doug Moench, Nick Cuti, Steve Leialoha, Sheldon Moldoff, Jerry Robinson, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Stan Freberg, Hunter Freberg, Scott Shaw!, Floyd Norman, Bill Famer, Laraine Newman, Fred Tatasciore, Vanessa Marshall, James Arnold Taylor, Chuck McCann, June Foray, Bill Stout, Mike Royer, Mike Friedrich, George Clayton Johnson, Lee Marrs, David Scroggy, Harvey Kurtzman, Dennis Kitchen, Paul Levitz, Charles Kochman, Nellie Kurtzman, Jack Kirby, Bill Mumy, Steve Saffel, Paul S. Levine, The San Diego Five String Mob, Hank Garrett, Charlie Adler, Greg Cipes, Susan Silo, Tom Kane.
And now we're looking at my 2004 schedule which is pretty self-explanatory. Need I remind you that these are the folks who were supposed to be on these panels? One or two of them might not have appeared. One or two might have been added at the last minute…
Mike Royer, Tom Gill, Frank Springer, Gene Colan, Frank Bolle, Sid Jacobson, Jack Adler, Harry Harrison, Sergio Aragonés, Stan Sakai, Tom Luth, Chuck McCann, Dave Stevens, Dave Gibbons, Paul Ryan, Walt Simonson, Steve Rude, Scott Shaw!, Jeff Smith, Joe Alaskey, Dee Bradley Baker, Gregg Berger, Tom Kenny, Neil Ross, Billy West, Ray Bradbury, June Foray, Forrest Ackerman, Len Wei, Elliott S! Maggin, Paul Levitz, Marv Wolfman, Mike Carlin.
I'm going to stop answering questions from folks who don't sign something that at least resembles a real name — but "Bobo" writes to ask…
I live in Kentucky and the only dream I have in life is to do cartoon voices. I don't want to do anything else but voices for cartoons. In the past, you said on your blog that to do that, you had to live in Los Angeles but since COVID, a lot of the business has converted to people recording in their home studios and working on ZOOM. I have a great studio here in my basement in Kentucky. Can I now have a real career in cartoon voice work from here? I know there are a number of very successful voice actors now who live in other cities and work on shows that were formerly recorded with local talent in L.A.
First off, "Bobo," I don't think there's anyone who makes a decent living doing cartoon voices. The folks you think do are folks who do cartoon voices and narration and dubbing and looping and audiobooks and commercials and announcing and a dozen other jobs where one's voice is heard. Mel Blanc…Daws Butler…Paul Frees…June Foray…none of those folks were ever only cartoon voice actors. Some of them, at times, didn't even make most of their income that way.
Also: There are probably a couple I don't know about but every currently-working-a-lot cartoon voice actor I know who doesn't live in or around Los Angeles did when they got established in the field. Then they moved back to Wherever and worked remotely.
To your real question: Yes, it is much easier now than it used to be for voice actors to "phone it in" but you are putting yourself at a disadvantage. It's not as big a disadvantage as it used to be but it's still a disadvantage. With time, it will probably become less of one but I can't say for sure how much. There will still be shows that want you present in their studio on their microphones. There will still be video game producers that want you to come in and put on motion-capture devices so they can record your lip and body movements.
That said, I need to add this: I have never and will never encourage anyone to uproot their life and move to Los Angeles (or anywhere) to pursue any career in any corner of show business. The vast majority of those stories end in failure…and I don't mean 60% or 70%. It's more like 90% and up. I also don't encourage anyone to invest in the time and expense of building a great home recording studio. It may pay off and it may not. It's like a lot of things in life: Only you can decide whether or not to take the gamble. Because it's always a gamble.
The other day here, I wrote about William Conrad and his job as the narrator of the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons. A number of you wrote in and reminded me that in an article that I wrote and repurposed for this blog, I told a story that perhaps bears repeating. As noted, those cartoons had a cast of four…and only four. No guest stars…
Some of those Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons are loaded with one and two-line incidental parts, all well-juggled by the stock company. I tallied one in which June [Foray] played six roles, Bill [Scott] played seven and Paul [Frees] played nine.
Bill Conrad usually supplied only his one, marvelous voice. It occasionally frustrated him that Jay Ward, who directed the sessions, didn't think he was capable of contributing more. One day, he told Jay, "Hey, I can double."
Jay was skeptical but he decided to give it a try. He assigned Conrad a bit part in an episode set on a tropical island. The role was a native named Sam who had only one or two very short speeches. When the proper moment came, Conrad screwed up his mouth, pitched his chords high and spoke in a voice he was sure did not sound like the Narrator.
"Cut," Jay said. "Bill, that sounds too much like the Narrator."
So they did another take. Conrad strained, tightened his larynx and performed the brief dialogue in a voice he thought sounded nothing like the Narrator.
"Cut," Jay yelled. "Too much like the Narrator. Try it again."
So Conrad tried it again and again and again. Ordinarily, actors in Jay Ward cartoons got it on the first take or, at worst, the second. That day, William Conrad set the house record.
Just how many attempts it took, no one is certain. Bill Scott used to change the number every time he told the story. Sometimes, it was eight. Sometimes, ten. Whatever, by the time Jay Ward was satisfied, Bill Conrad was hoarse and drenched in perspiration.
Jay, however, felt the situation was too humorous not to make worse. He called his publicist — a fellow named Howard Brandy, who was properly in tune with the Ward sense o' humor. The next day, Variety and Hollywood Reporter announced that Jay Ward Studios would soon commence production on a new series, spun off from the Bullwinkle series. It was called Sam the Native and the press release proclaimed it would star William Conrad as the voice of the title character.
Conrad knew it was a joke but none of his friends did. For weeks, people stopped him and asked, "Hey, congrats on Sam the Native. What does his voice sound like?" The one time I met him, it was twenty years later and I immediately told him I was still looking forward to the Sam the Native show.
Mr. Conrad's reply cannot be repeated here, this paper having certain standards relating to profanity. I can tell you though that he sounded just like the Narrator.
And I guess I should have added that he laughed while saying it. And of course, he sounded just like the Narrator when he laughed.
My few remaining synapses must be firing less & less often because it just occurred to me to ask you: Is the William Conrad you note as one of the Rocky & Bullwinkle cast the same William Conrad who went on to star in Cannon, Nero Wolfe and Jake and the Fatman?
Wikipedia seems to indicate that he was, but, with a range of roles so vast, I needed to hear it from a real, live expert to believe he had that kind of range (and sense of humor). I guess that's why they call it "acting," huh?
Yes, definitely the same guy. He had a real good career in radio — among many others, he was Marshal Dillon on Gunsmoke in those days — and lots of on-camera roles in film and television. He was also an announcer in many commercials and TV shows…The Fugitive (the show with David Janssen) for one. Usually, he was hired for a deeper, slower voiceover and that's how he narrated the earliest Rocky & Bullwinkle shows but they soon were having him talk faster and when he did, his voice went up in pitch.
Conrad was the narrator on all the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons Jay Ward produced and on a few of the Dudley Do-Right cartoons, though Paul Frees wound up narrating most of those. The entire cast of the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons consisted of Frees, June Foray, Bill Scott and Mr. Conrad. There were no guest stars in any of the episodes because it was impossible to write a role that one of those four people could not do.
And while Conrad's job in most was confined to the narration, every so often when there was a crowd scene and multiple voices were needed, they'd have him do one of them. He was a great announcer but he did not do a very good job of not sounding like William Conrad.
Here's another batch of cereal commercials produced for the Quaker Oats company by Jay Ward's company. Most are for Quisp and Quake but there are two in there for another cereal, King Vitaman, and the king's voice is Joe Flynn, best known as Captain Binghamton on the McHale's Navy TV show. Also in these, you'll meet Quake's arch-enemy, Simon LeGreedy, whose voice was supplied by Hans Conried.
Daws Butler is Quisp and a few supporting characters. William Conrad is Quake, who is remodeled into a slimmer character in these spots. June Foray is all the ladies and the little boy. Bill Scott and Paul Frees handle the other roles. Once again, they hired more actors than they absolutely had to…
In 1965, the Quaker Oats Company introduced two sugary cereals — Quisp and Quake — with a series of animated commercials produced by Jay Ward's studio. Bill Scott. who was more or less the creative head of the operation, wrote, produced and did voices in most of them. I do not recall tasting either product but I sure liked the commercials, which were produced with the same comic sensibilities that Ward's crew had brought to Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, George of the Jungle and not nearly enough others.
The commercials also employed the main stock company voice actors from the Ward cartoons. Paul Frees was the announcer. William Conrad, who usually was the announcer, was the voice of Quake. Daws Butler was the voice of Quisp. Scott did many voices and if there was a female in the commercial, it was June Foray. Even back then, I was impressed that they spent the money to have five actors in a one-minute cartoon. Frees, Butler and Scott could each easily have done all the male roles by themselves.
Neither cereal was that huge a success. In 1969, the Quake character was redesigned, slimmed-down and given an Australian accent. Three years later, the commercials asked kids to vote which one they liked better and Quisp trounced Quake. Quake cereal was discontinued…or rather, replaced by Quake's Orange Quangaroos which featured a kangaroo character on its boxes. It barely lasted four years before disappearing from shelves.
Quisp was on most shelves until 1979 or thereabouts. Since then, Quaker brings it back every now and then for a while and it's available online from the factory. If you're dying for a box, you can order it here.
